Help me find the perfect, portable coffee mug
January 17, 2018 11:07 AM   Subscribe

Mrs lasagnaboy has high standards come coffee time, especially for the drinking vessel. Help me find the perfect, portable coffee mug for her! Requirements and snowflakes within.

She enjoys drinking coffee on the go, and her day takes her all over the place with her trusty mug. She prefers something narrow and cylindrical, with a "large" capacity of 16 oz; heat retention is important yet not paramount. A high-quality lid is essential: something that will not spill while in motion, yet does not require more than a simple motion to open and sip. Plastic is a non-starter. Ceramic, such as the Curious Fox models suggested in this ask, may be too brittle for the constant on-the-go this mug will face (I have one, and like it very much; I tend to be sedentary with my coffee drinking, however).

We have tried several different stainless-steel and other metal coffee mugs, from Thermos, Nissan , and Kleen Kanteen; all impart a metallic taste to the coffee within (even after arduous washing and rinsing). This was especially noticeable with the Kleen Kanteen, which surprised her: it does not affect the taste of her drinking water from a similar container.

She recently began using a Keep cup, which has a single- or double-wall glass body. However, the plastic lid gives the coffee a strong, plastic taste. She likes almost everything else about it: the shape, the capacity, the cork band for ease of gripping, and even the function of the lid. The way that the lid affects taste is a big drawback.

Other asks discuss cleaning plastic; portability; and on cleaning mugs crusted over with historical coffee. The wirecutter and ask mefi agree on Zojirushi and Contigo, but they are stainless steel, so I worry will meet the same fate as the other metal mugs. I am especially interested in a mug which is portable, spill-resistant, and does not impart off tastes from its materials.

I appreciate your suggestions, especially backed by recent personal experience! We may also have constrained ourselves in a corner, and will wind up keeping the status quo with the Keep Cup.
posted by lasagnaboy to Food & Drink (21 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I have noticed no off-taste from my Zojirushi -- neither from the lining nor from the plastic lid. I noticed the same effect from a Klean Kanteen, and also an odd metallic scent when drinking water; the Zojirushi doesn't bother me a bit. It has been utterly spillproof, and I find the lid mechanism both more leakproof and easier to clean than the Contigo lid mechanism. It keeps coffee hot for an unnatural, sometimes-bothersome amount of time. (This may be a bug rather than a feature; at times I've had to wait longer than I'd have liked to enjoy my coffee, and I've started keeping the lid off after brewing to let it cool to an optimum sip-temperature so I can actually have it on my commute instead of when I arrive.) I've had mine for... jeez, three years I think? Still going strong with daily use, and I like that I can basically fling it into my bag with abandon.

The only downside is in the lid, and it is a minor downside. Opening it to sip is a fluid and pleasing motion, but on occasion I have ended up with a coffee drip on my nose from my nose bopping into the lid. Not a dealbreaker, but worth noting.
posted by halation at 11:15 AM on January 17, 2018 [8 favorites]


I also own the Zojirushi suggested by The Wirecutter and haven't noticed any metallic or plastic tastes. I'm also particularly sensitive to those things. I hate metal water bottles, but this one is fine. Also really good and leak-proof. So good.

(I second what halation is saying but it's only a minor silly thing that happens to me from time to time.)
posted by ancient star at 11:26 AM on January 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: The Zojirushi really is an amazing travel mug. I have never tasted anything metallic whether I put coffee, water, or wine in it. It really does keep things at temperature too - so well that if I pour hot coffee straight from the coffeepot into it, the coffee will literally still be that hot 8 hours later.
posted by joan_holloway at 11:28 AM on January 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I use a giant (20 ounce) Yeti tumbler every day. It's really, really great and really, really insulated -- my coffee stays warm all the way to the bottom, especially if I take the time to warm the cup with hot water before putting in the coffee. It's steel, but I am hugely picky about coffee (e.g.: I'm a pourover snob), and after well over a year of daily use I detect no metallic taste from it.

The challenge, though, will be finding anything with a drink-thru lid that doesn't eventually acquire aftertaste due to the plastic lid. Complexity is your enemy here; anything really complex has hidden parts where flavor goes to die.

I don't usually use my Yeti on the go at all. It HAS a lid, and I HAVE used it that way, but the other problem with travel lids is that they more or less take your nose out of the process, which means you lose a lot of flavor.

That said, the Yeti lid has no obscure liquid path; the whole surface of it can be vigorously cleaned. They also sell a more secure lid with a sliding door, which may appeal as well.
posted by uberchet at 11:28 AM on January 17, 2018


nthing the Zojirushi: it's definitely better than others I've tried in terms of "flask flavour."
posted by holgate at 11:29 AM on January 17, 2018


Best answer: I have had a similar Contigo travel mug (but with a handle) for 3 years. It's never leaked, and is easy to clean. It keeps temperature well - hot to cold takes about 4 hours with the lid off and maybe 6 hours with it on. I don't notice any difference in taste between it and drinking from a ceramic mug. I'm pretty sensitive to plastic flavor, and the lid doesn't seem to affect it. I don't notice a metal flavor from the inside of the flask, either.

However, I've never tried the flasks that you're comparing it to, so I don't know if the Contigo is better or if my sense of taste is worse.
posted by Kriesa at 11:37 AM on January 17, 2018 [2 favorites]


I bought my wife this Stanley Press Mug for use while camping. As a press, it works really well for campsite coffee.

She liked it so much she uses it at home as a coffee mug/thermos and doesn't bother with the press. It's bomb-proof. That thing has been on all of our ski/bike/rafting trips the past two years. She has a cupboard full of travel mugs, but this is the only one she uses anymore.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 11:44 AM on January 17, 2018


The wirecutter and ask mefi agree on Zojirushi and Contigo, but they are stainless steel, so I worry will meet the same fate as the other metal mugs.

I have that exact Contigo SnapSeal (third option in your link), and it's the second one I've bought because I lost the first one and missed it so much. No spills, keeps the heat in surprisingly well for its sleek design, and the grip is extra nice on the days I need gloves. I've never noticed any off flavoring, FWIW - even when I've just been drinking from my home mug and poured from there straight into the Contigo because I didn't have time to finish it before I left.
posted by solotoro at 11:54 AM on January 17, 2018


I have a contigo and think it makes the coffee taste like plastic. However, my husband loves his and uses it everyday. I hope you get a good recommendation, I will be following.
posted by gryphonlover at 12:42 PM on January 17, 2018


Best answer: Mr. Dorinda and I both use this HydroFlask model. I've noticed no adverse taste modifications from either the flask itself or the plastic lid, it keeps my coffee delightfully hot for a ridiculously long amount of time, and the lid is virtually spill proof even when dropped out of one's bike holster at 18mph or when jostled about carelessly inside one's purse for hours on end. I love this travel mug to a possibly unhealthy degree.
posted by Dorinda at 12:43 PM on January 17, 2018 [1 favorite]


Seconding the Hydroflask love. It is amazing and lovely and I don't notice any metallic aftertaste at all.
posted by teleri025 at 1:06 PM on January 17, 2018


I'm on my second Contigo Autoseal mug. I love the things. My first had a regular lid, which was a bit annoying to clean, so for the new one I sprang for the Easy-Clean lid, which has a little lever that pops it open and just wash like normal.

Been using them since 2009 or so, no metallic taste noted.
posted by basalganglia at 2:44 PM on January 17, 2018


My Zojirushi changed my life! I now actively prefer to bring coffee from home rather than buy it from cafes because it stays so delicious and hot (I tend to sip my coffee slowly over the morning, and my coffee stays hot for hours!) and the flip-lid mechanism is so seamless. It's absolutely wonderful, do not hesitate for a second. I also have noticed no metallic taste whatsoever. It gets bashed around a lot in my backpack, but I've never experienced a spillage.
posted by Ziggy500 at 3:05 PM on January 17, 2018


I love my Contigo Autoseal (bought from Costco under the Avex brand name).
posted by essexjan at 3:21 PM on January 17, 2018


I love my Zojirushi so much -- it can turn all the upside down in my bag and has never spilled. It's amazingly well-made.
posted by fairlynearlyready at 3:22 PM on January 17, 2018


I bought a Zojirushi based on previous AskMe advice. It is amazing for travel, and I do recommend it to people. That being said it does have a downside in that it keeps drinks *piping* hot (read: mouth-burning temperatures) for hours. I always burn my mouth if I drink from it in the car on the way to work (having filled it just before leaving the house). The trick is to either let your drink cool to an acceptable drinking temperature before adding it to this cup, or don't drink it until you get to your destination and then pour it into a regular coffee cup.

I'll give you an example of how well it retains heat: I poured hot water into the cup two nights ago and added a tea bag, as I wanted the tea to be brewed and at an acceptable drinking temperature when I left for work the next morning. Except I didn't go to work yesterday, and forgot about the tea until lunchtime today, when I took a sip; nearly 48 hours later the tea was still warm.
posted by vignettist at 3:25 PM on January 17, 2018


Response by poster: Thanks, everyone! Lots of useful information in these answers. I am going to pick up a Zojirushi mug.
posted by lasagnaboy at 5:34 PM on January 17, 2018


Good recommendations above. Just a comment about metallic taste, our water is safe but not great tasting, so we run our water through a Brita filter. We also regularly put boiling water for a minute or so in the stainless steel thermoses and other stainless beverage containers we have and then dump it out. We've never had an issue with metallic taste. You might give that a try with the new mug.
posted by gudrun at 5:42 PM on January 17, 2018


This doesn't answer your question, which seems to have been answered, but might be useful anyway given all the comments above about the Zojirushi keeping liquids too hot: with tea, I throw a couple of ice cubes in with the hot tea, which brings it down to a reasonable temperature, where it then stays for hours. Not being a coffee drinker myself, I don't know if this useful or sacrilege in the context of coffee.

Also, you can use cleaners made for espresso machines such as this one to clean it out. Super easy. (I don't remember if there was a reason I chose that particular one.)
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 6:21 PM on January 17, 2018


Another vote for Yeti mugs. I take mine out with me in chilly to cold weather while farming, and am shocked at how hot the liquid inside remains when I forget it after weeding a row. No bits to mess with or get gunk in, and if I need more cooling or aroma, the top is easily removable (but not so easy that it jostles out on its own).
posted by ikahime at 8:38 PM on January 17, 2018


I vote for a titanium mug of some sort.

I'm very sensitive to off flavours in my beverages, and have found my titanium camping cup to be the absolute best non-glass/ceramic option. It's also nigh-on indestructible, and lighter than both glass and ceramics.

There are titanium water bottles and even thermoses available from sites like AliExpress (and elsewhere).
posted by flippant at 7:28 PM on January 18, 2018


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